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The Philosophy of the Daodejing
For centuries, the ancient Chinese philosophical text the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching) has fascinated and frustrated its readers. While it offers a wealth of rich philosophical insights concerning the cultivation of one's body and attaining one's proper place within nature and the cosmos, its teachings and structure can be enigmatic and obscure. Hans-Georg Moeller presents a clear and coherent description and analysis of this vaguely understood Chinese classic. He explores the recurring images and ideas that shape the work and offers a variety of useful approaches to understanding and appreciating this canonical text. Moeller expounds on the core philosophical issues addressed in the Daodejing, clarifying such crucial concepts as Yin and Yang and Dao and De. He explains its teachings on a variety of subjects, including sexuality, ethics, desire, cosmology, human nature, the emotions, time, death, and the death penalty. The Daodejing also offers a distinctive ideal of social order and political leadership and presents a philosophy of war and peace.An illuminating exploration, The Daodejing is an interesting foil to the philosophical outlook of Western humanism and contains surprising parallels between its teachings and nontraditional contemporary philosophies.
186 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 24, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 8, 2018
I've read the Daodejing twice through now, with my Western, individualist, consumerist eyes. I approached it as Chinese mysticism and, if I'm honest, as an oracle for wisdom that will get me what I want in life. I was confounded by much of it.
Moeller places the Daodejing in its historical context. Any person reading an ancient text needs to know the historical context. (I'm looking at you, American Christians, but I digress.) It was written (or perhaps compiled from multiple authors) for educated rulers and elites in ancient China to inform their governance. It was written as an antidote to Confucianism. Throughout Moeller's work, this backdrop informs his interpretation.
More importantly, Moeller provides an interpretive rubric. With the historical and cultural context of its writing in mind, Moeller encourages us to approach the text not as a linear progression of ideas nor as a series of self-contained wisdom-poems. He guides us through the Dao as if it is hypertext, one metaphor or image linking to and relying on the same or similar metaphor in another poem for explanation.
With the interpretive method illustrated, Moeller applies it to the naturalism, sexuality, politics, and other philosophical dimensions of the Dao. It's a fantastic explanation. I'm much richer for having been guided through the text in this manner. In my more mindful moments, I approach the Dao seeking to cultivate wu wei. Moeller's explanations of the valley, water, yin and yang energies, and other teachings in the Dao has made my readings much richer and more peaceful.
This is an academic work. It is dense reading and deserves to be read slowly. I found myself reading passages several times to grasp what Moeller was communicating. It was worth it. Truly 5 stars imo, and I will be reading more of Moeller's work.
Moeller places the Daodejing in its historical context. Any person reading an ancient text needs to know the historical context. (I'm looking at you, American Christians, but I digress.) It was written (or perhaps compiled from multiple authors) for educated rulers and elites in ancient China to inform their governance. It was written as an antidote to Confucianism. Throughout Moeller's work, this backdrop informs his interpretation.
More importantly, Moeller provides an interpretive rubric. With the historical and cultural context of its writing in mind, Moeller encourages us to approach the text not as a linear progression of ideas nor as a series of self-contained wisdom-poems. He guides us through the Dao as if it is hypertext, one metaphor or image linking to and relying on the same or similar metaphor in another poem for explanation.
With the interpretive method illustrated, Moeller applies it to the naturalism, sexuality, politics, and other philosophical dimensions of the Dao. It's a fantastic explanation. I'm much richer for having been guided through the text in this manner. In my more mindful moments, I approach the Dao seeking to cultivate wu wei. Moeller's explanations of the valley, water, yin and yang energies, and other teachings in the Dao has made my readings much richer and more peaceful.
This is an academic work. It is dense reading and deserves to be read slowly. I found myself reading passages several times to grasp what Moeller was communicating. It was worth it. Truly 5 stars imo, and I will be reading more of Moeller's work.
March 12, 2015
The Daodejing was probably the first philosophical Chinese work that I had read, I recall owning the book when I was young and reading it because I found it interesting how someone could say so much with so few words. Not only does Laozi give useful advice for insight but it’s also a great tool for writers. Who Laozi is has been debated by scholars for years, some believe he was an older contemporary of Kongzi ( Confucius), other believe he is a made up characters to represent the various authors whose work was included in The Daodejing.
The topics that are addressed are wide in variety. It touches on politics, ruling and common wisdom. Though most passages have a clear topic, all of them are said in a way that can be interpreted differently by different people.
I found that while I was reading, after finishing the whole passage and thinking it over I went back and picked out the single line from each passage that stuck out or meant the most to me personally. Some stuck out because the meaning seemed more important, or I agreed with the statement and some I picked because I thought they sounded beautiful. Because a lot of the passages rhyme, its fun to read and can be given a rhythm or beat. This makes some of them read like a song and they are all the more beautiful because of it.
A few of my favorite passages are as follows:
“Everyone in the world knows that when the beautiful strives to be beautiful, it is repulsive.” (Chapter 2, page 163)
“To be haughty when wealth and honor come your way is to bring disaster upon yourself.” (Chapter 9, Page 167)
“Hold fast to the Way of old, in order to control what is here today.” (Chapter 14, page 169)
To me, these passages give some of the best advice that can be universally used. Mostly they tell me to be humble and accepting of what I have and to learn from the past to understand the future.
The topics that are addressed are wide in variety. It touches on politics, ruling and common wisdom. Though most passages have a clear topic, all of them are said in a way that can be interpreted differently by different people.
I found that while I was reading, after finishing the whole passage and thinking it over I went back and picked out the single line from each passage that stuck out or meant the most to me personally. Some stuck out because the meaning seemed more important, or I agreed with the statement and some I picked because I thought they sounded beautiful. Because a lot of the passages rhyme, its fun to read and can be given a rhythm or beat. This makes some of them read like a song and they are all the more beautiful because of it.
A few of my favorite passages are as follows:
“Everyone in the world knows that when the beautiful strives to be beautiful, it is repulsive.” (Chapter 2, page 163)
“To be haughty when wealth and honor come your way is to bring disaster upon yourself.” (Chapter 9, Page 167)
“Hold fast to the Way of old, in order to control what is here today.” (Chapter 14, page 169)
To me, these passages give some of the best advice that can be universally used. Mostly they tell me to be humble and accepting of what I have and to learn from the past to understand the future.
October 17, 2025
The Daodejing is a terse, poetic treatise from China’s Warring States period, without an identifiable author, a clear topic or systematic approach. In The Philosophy of the Daodejing, Hans-Georg Moeller sets out to show that this elusive text has a distinctly political-philosophical aim: it is a meditation on how a ruler might preserve order, without succumbing to the urge to become a control freak.
Moeller uses a textual-historical approach to interpret the Daodejing, attempting to decipher what it might have meant to people in its original context, i.e. to those educated few with social power who were familiar with it. Moeller’s sensitivity to the historical context is his primary strength. He appreciates the strangeness of the text and approaches it with care and interest. He follows the imagery and symbolism, connecting passages and interpreting the text as an intricate network of interconnected ideas. He for example finds parallels in recurring images of emptiness, like valleys or bellows, that, precisely through their emptiness, are full and fertile, endlessly generative. This imagery in turn echoes the Daoist ideal of rulership: to remain low, unseen, yet to nourish and sustain the flourishing of the whole. These explorations are detailed, poetic and inspiring to read.
As part of his philosophical exploration of the Daodejing, Moeller brings some of its main ideas into dialogue with modern thought. This is, according to him, one of the main merits of intercultural philosophy: “to better understand one’s own reasoning” (xi). Some of his conceptual comparisons are particularly fruitful, for example his engagement with the Daodejing as a kind of hypertext, like the internet, rather than a linear narrative with a beginning and end. His translation of ‘ziran’ by means of the modern concept of autopoiesis, i.e. self-(re)production, similarly helps to make sense of the elusive Dao.
But while these conceptual parallels are useful and deepen understanding, Moeller also tends to go on ambitious tangents that are not followed through properly. For example, he mentions cryptically that the “pre-humanist Laozi [...] may even help to develop a future post-humanist hermeneutics” (p.143), failing to elaborate on what that might look like. This vagueness appears throughout much of his analysis of modern thought. Part of the problem is that he never clearly defines what he means with terms like ‘humanism’. At times, Moeller uses the word to refer to notions of individual authorship and readership (“humanist categories,” p.137). Elsewhere, it encompasses what he calls ‘modern’ values, such as education, freedom, and health (p.140). Because he never defines the concept, ‘humanism’ becomes a catch-all term, leaving readers unsure of which aspects of modern thought or politics he aims to challenge.
Moeller’s Daoist evaluation of modern thought might have been more coherent if he had focused his critique on anthropocentrism, as in a one-sided focus on human concerns only, which appears to be his underlying concern about humanism. In this light, Daoism could be read as offering an ecological alternative, situating politics within the natural cosmos and encouraging rulers to temper their impulse toward domination or overly controlling forms of governance. In the Daodejing, humans are portrayed as an obstruction to the natural order and mediating that obstruction, through modesty and an attitude of yielding, becomes the highest political virtue.
Despite its shortcomings, The Philosophy of the Daodejing is a thoughtful contribution to intercultural philosophy. While Moeller’s bold political claims may falter, his more detailed passages show his sensitivity to the text’s logic and make his book a valuable philosophical guide to one of the world’s most cryptic classics.
[book review written for my class on methods for intercultural philosophy]
Moeller uses a textual-historical approach to interpret the Daodejing, attempting to decipher what it might have meant to people in its original context, i.e. to those educated few with social power who were familiar with it. Moeller’s sensitivity to the historical context is his primary strength. He appreciates the strangeness of the text and approaches it with care and interest. He follows the imagery and symbolism, connecting passages and interpreting the text as an intricate network of interconnected ideas. He for example finds parallels in recurring images of emptiness, like valleys or bellows, that, precisely through their emptiness, are full and fertile, endlessly generative. This imagery in turn echoes the Daoist ideal of rulership: to remain low, unseen, yet to nourish and sustain the flourishing of the whole. These explorations are detailed, poetic and inspiring to read.
As part of his philosophical exploration of the Daodejing, Moeller brings some of its main ideas into dialogue with modern thought. This is, according to him, one of the main merits of intercultural philosophy: “to better understand one’s own reasoning” (xi). Some of his conceptual comparisons are particularly fruitful, for example his engagement with the Daodejing as a kind of hypertext, like the internet, rather than a linear narrative with a beginning and end. His translation of ‘ziran’ by means of the modern concept of autopoiesis, i.e. self-(re)production, similarly helps to make sense of the elusive Dao.
But while these conceptual parallels are useful and deepen understanding, Moeller also tends to go on ambitious tangents that are not followed through properly. For example, he mentions cryptically that the “pre-humanist Laozi [...] may even help to develop a future post-humanist hermeneutics” (p.143), failing to elaborate on what that might look like. This vagueness appears throughout much of his analysis of modern thought. Part of the problem is that he never clearly defines what he means with terms like ‘humanism’. At times, Moeller uses the word to refer to notions of individual authorship and readership (“humanist categories,” p.137). Elsewhere, it encompasses what he calls ‘modern’ values, such as education, freedom, and health (p.140). Because he never defines the concept, ‘humanism’ becomes a catch-all term, leaving readers unsure of which aspects of modern thought or politics he aims to challenge.
Moeller’s Daoist evaluation of modern thought might have been more coherent if he had focused his critique on anthropocentrism, as in a one-sided focus on human concerns only, which appears to be his underlying concern about humanism. In this light, Daoism could be read as offering an ecological alternative, situating politics within the natural cosmos and encouraging rulers to temper their impulse toward domination or overly controlling forms of governance. In the Daodejing, humans are portrayed as an obstruction to the natural order and mediating that obstruction, through modesty and an attitude of yielding, becomes the highest political virtue.
Despite its shortcomings, The Philosophy of the Daodejing is a thoughtful contribution to intercultural philosophy. While Moeller’s bold political claims may falter, his more detailed passages show his sensitivity to the text’s logic and make his book a valuable philosophical guide to one of the world’s most cryptic classics.
[book review written for my class on methods for intercultural philosophy]
February 19, 2022
Moeller engages with Laozi(or Dao De Jing, both names refer to the same thing) not as a religious text, since as Moeller notes, it didn’t pick up its religious baggage till the Han dynasty, but as a socio-political treatise. The authorship of Laozi is attributed to Lao-tzu but there is fierce debate about the concreteness of this enigmatic figure. Moeller explains that Laozi was rather passed on orally with additions made by various figures throughout history and it was committed to a textual format quite late in its history. The opacity of the text itself is due to the fact that it was never meant to be read by the hoi polloi but rather was only supposed to be accessible to the elites who occupied the aristocratic ruling positions, those individuals who were sufficiently educated and had enough time to decipher the text. Why study the Laozi if it is some esoteric elitist rulebook? Moeller argues that we must look into it because it offers us a radically different worldview from our own, a pre-humanist conception of life and the world. This philosophy or, rather, lens can offer challenges to our own humanist philosophy: I would say that the interpretations within this book have quite radically reconfigured my own worldview.
Moeller walks us through the text not merely as a sequence of wise sayings but rather as a hypertext where one metaphor evokes another, and a collection of such metaphors together weave a larger web of evocations. As a socio-political treatise it touches everything form sex to war and death penalty. The ideas or the advices propounded within the pages can feel quite counter-intuitive and that is precisely the reason why the Laozi should be read.
According to the Laozi, humans do not occupy any privileged positions within this world: they are from this world and part of this world; and their life follows the rhythms of this world whether they like it or not, whether they consider themselves to be the masters of their fates or not. Philosophy of Laozi, I believe, can act as a corrective for human vanity. It can provide us with a modest alternative, one pervaded by an enigmatic beauty: a beauty quite inhuman and beautiful precisely because of that inhumanity. This alternative can help us find our place in a world where our own scientific ventures have relegated us to the position of animals from the seats of heaven. Here we don’t have to be aliens in this world but can be simply part of it.
Moeller walks us through the text not merely as a sequence of wise sayings but rather as a hypertext where one metaphor evokes another, and a collection of such metaphors together weave a larger web of evocations. As a socio-political treatise it touches everything form sex to war and death penalty. The ideas or the advices propounded within the pages can feel quite counter-intuitive and that is precisely the reason why the Laozi should be read.
According to the Laozi, humans do not occupy any privileged positions within this world: they are from this world and part of this world; and their life follows the rhythms of this world whether they like it or not, whether they consider themselves to be the masters of their fates or not. Philosophy of Laozi, I believe, can act as a corrective for human vanity. It can provide us with a modest alternative, one pervaded by an enigmatic beauty: a beauty quite inhuman and beautiful precisely because of that inhumanity. This alternative can help us find our place in a world where our own scientific ventures have relegated us to the position of animals from the seats of heaven. Here we don’t have to be aliens in this world but can be simply part of it.
January 9, 2025
If you've finished 'The Tao of Pooh' and are seeking a deeper, more substantial exploration of Taoist philosophy, Hans-Georg Moeller's 'The Philosophy of the Daodejing' is an excellent next step.
Unlike 'The Tao of Pooh', which presents the Tao as a feel-good framework for personal betterment, Moeller’s book delves into the historical and cultural contexts of the Daodejing. It examines its intended audience—rulers and elites, rather than the common people—and unpacks the text's original purpose with unflinching clarity. Moeller argues that the authors of the Daodejing weren't concerned with individual rights or autonomy. Instead, they envisioned society as a collective whole, functioning in unified harmony under the ruler's guidance. This perspective challenges Western individualist ideals, prompting readers to question what Moeller refers to as our “outdated humanist self-deceptions” (p. 141).
The book also highlights how Taoism, often stereotyped as a liberal and individualist philosophy, is more conservative and society-focused than many people—particularly readers of 'The Tao of Pooh'—might expect. This perspective suggests that Taoism shares more in common with Confucianism than is often assumed. While Taoism is frequently celebrated for its alignment with nature and spontaneity, Moeller’s analysis underscores its deeply pragmatic and governance-oriented roots.
Another highlight of Moeller’s work is his discussion of how the Daodejing was meant to be read. He likens it to a modern hypertext system (think Wikipedia, though he doesn’t use the term), where its passages—full of recurring textual images—can be read in any order, each linking conceptually to others. Historically, these aphorisms were likely memorised and recited aloud by professional philosophers advising rulers in a competitive intellectual environment. Moeller’s analysis suggests that the Daodejing is fundamentally a political text, a perspective that adds new dimensions to its interpretation.
Overall, 'The Philosophy of the Daodejing' is a thoughtful and well-argued examination of one of history’s most enigmatic works. Moeller not only deepens our understanding of Taoism but also invites us to confront our assumptions about humanism and Western individualism. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking a more nuanced appreciation of the Daodejing and its enduring significance.
Unlike 'The Tao of Pooh', which presents the Tao as a feel-good framework for personal betterment, Moeller’s book delves into the historical and cultural contexts of the Daodejing. It examines its intended audience—rulers and elites, rather than the common people—and unpacks the text's original purpose with unflinching clarity. Moeller argues that the authors of the Daodejing weren't concerned with individual rights or autonomy. Instead, they envisioned society as a collective whole, functioning in unified harmony under the ruler's guidance. This perspective challenges Western individualist ideals, prompting readers to question what Moeller refers to as our “outdated humanist self-deceptions” (p. 141).
The book also highlights how Taoism, often stereotyped as a liberal and individualist philosophy, is more conservative and society-focused than many people—particularly readers of 'The Tao of Pooh'—might expect. This perspective suggests that Taoism shares more in common with Confucianism than is often assumed. While Taoism is frequently celebrated for its alignment with nature and spontaneity, Moeller’s analysis underscores its deeply pragmatic and governance-oriented roots.
Another highlight of Moeller’s work is his discussion of how the Daodejing was meant to be read. He likens it to a modern hypertext system (think Wikipedia, though he doesn’t use the term), where its passages—full of recurring textual images—can be read in any order, each linking conceptually to others. Historically, these aphorisms were likely memorised and recited aloud by professional philosophers advising rulers in a competitive intellectual environment. Moeller’s analysis suggests that the Daodejing is fundamentally a political text, a perspective that adds new dimensions to its interpretation.
Overall, 'The Philosophy of the Daodejing' is a thoughtful and well-argued examination of one of history’s most enigmatic works. Moeller not only deepens our understanding of Taoism but also invites us to confront our assumptions about humanism and Western individualism. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking a more nuanced appreciation of the Daodejing and its enduring significance.
March 4, 2025
In the introduction, Moeller points out that this “book” is really a collection of oral accounts passed down through the ages, and was only intended to be read by the rulers of ancient China. While the reader probably shouldn’t take everything to heart, especially in our modern context, I would recommend this book because it gives an interesting perspective on the way life flows and raises some interesting questions.
It took me a little while to get into this book because I didn’t read for a few weeks and this book wasn’t easy to start reading. It’s concerned with sophisticated topics, and I wasn’t quite prepared. However, once I got into it, I found that the book was really well-written. Moeller laid out his interpretations clearly and made it easy to digest the key principles found in the Daodejing. I was surprised that there’s a whole chapter on sex, and how the ideal sage-ruler should model himself after an infant. Surprising and unintuitive ideas like that can be found throughout the book, and kept my attention. Additionally, the paradoxical ideas like action through non-action were sometimes hard to wrap my head around. That said, I was able to understand some of them, and I found that some principles could be applied to today’s society. I particularly enjoyed the overarching theme of letting nature take its course and letting the people live their lives without disturbance. The “don’t get too high, don’t get too low” idea was pervasive (in more sophisticated terms) in each chapter.
It took me a little while to get into this book because I didn’t read for a few weeks and this book wasn’t easy to start reading. It’s concerned with sophisticated topics, and I wasn’t quite prepared. However, once I got into it, I found that the book was really well-written. Moeller laid out his interpretations clearly and made it easy to digest the key principles found in the Daodejing. I was surprised that there’s a whole chapter on sex, and how the ideal sage-ruler should model himself after an infant. Surprising and unintuitive ideas like that can be found throughout the book, and kept my attention. Additionally, the paradoxical ideas like action through non-action were sometimes hard to wrap my head around. That said, I was able to understand some of them, and I found that some principles could be applied to today’s society. I particularly enjoyed the overarching theme of letting nature take its course and letting the people live their lives without disturbance. The “don’t get too high, don’t get too low” idea was pervasive (in more sophisticated terms) in each chapter.
March 26, 2024
The discussion here is perilously close to worthless. Moeller seems to have some idea what the Daodejing itself says, but he consistently subordinates it to what he wishes or fantasizes it said. And he is not above playing to what he evidently considers the interests of his modern-day audience. The second chapter, "The Dao of Sex," is no more than a few vague references with counter-examples suppressed, puffed out with an unnecessary discourse on the Western tradition. The third chapter, "Yin and Yang, Qi, Dao, and De" tells us that the first two terms are used only once in the text, in a somewhat "cryptic" context, and then expands on that single usage for pages. The fourth chapter, "Paradox Politics," is crippled by the fact that there is no paradox whatsoever about the politics of the Daodejing: it is the most ironbound type of reactionary thinking, the idea that ordinary people will only be happy if they are put in their place, kept in their place, know their place, and never question their superiors in any way whatsoever. It is a depressing thought that any modern person could approve of a work that demands the common people be "stupidified" (Verse 65), believes they should be ignorant of all details of their government (Verse 17), deliberately deceives them (Verse 49), suppresses dissent (Verse 3), and robs them of their freedom of movement and association (Verse 80). And so on to the end.
As a fantasy work from a fantasy land that operates according to a wishful-thinking idea of political organization and a malignant desire for a frozen, tyrannized society, the Daodejing has a certain interest. As a testimony to the despair of those who rejected many aspects of traditional society without being able to offer a practical proposal for anything better, it is worth study. But it was a failure as a political program in the past, and has little more than historical context to offer readers in the present and the future. Surely we have enough extreme reactionaries to hand that we do not need to import them from other cultures and other times.
As a fantasy work from a fantasy land that operates according to a wishful-thinking idea of political organization and a malignant desire for a frozen, tyrannized society, the Daodejing has a certain interest. As a testimony to the despair of those who rejected many aspects of traditional society without being able to offer a practical proposal for anything better, it is worth study. But it was a failure as a political program in the past, and has little more than historical context to offer readers in the present and the future. Surely we have enough extreme reactionaries to hand that we do not need to import them from other cultures and other times.
June 29, 2022
比那种强行把中西哲学概念一一对应的人好多了，第一章尤佳。
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